The Serpent's Coil
by Teresa12
Summary: A new and darker power is rising. One with its sights set, not on Hogwarts, but on what lies beneath it. Hidden passages, secret chambers, immense mazes. And when Scorpius Malfoy is tasked with resurrecting one of the greatest Dark wizards of all time, the castle walls are beginning to hold echoes from 25 years ago...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:Hey guys! So here is the first chapter of my new fanfiction The Serpent's Coil! Please read and review and enjoy!**

**Teresa xx**

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Between the bars of the iron gate, the house rose, spectacular but ghostly in the mist vapour hanging heavy in the thin air. The pebbled drive up to main entrance was overgrown, weeds having found their way into the cracks, and joined into fissures leaving only fragmented sections of white pebble visible.

An engraving on a stone set into the crumbling surrounding wall read: "Riddle Mansion." Mansions always seemed to fall into two categories: the grand and beautiful edifices with carefully tended gardens that take your breath away and the once grand and beautiful building that had bourn the mark of time but still maintained the air of a mansion, simply because they were so eerie they take your breath away as well.

The Riddle Mansion certainly fell into this latter category. The mist and the cloudy sky added to the atmosphere. The light of a bonfire could be seen from Little Hangleton and the sparks cast into the air looked like a distress signal.

A gnarled hand disentangled itself from the long and cumbersome black robes the figure standing at gate was wearing. It gripped the lifeless bars tight, turning the pale knuckles even whiter. The gates creaked ajar slowly and arduously, no doubt stiff after decades of disuse.

It was prime real estate really, thought the figure. Except its past made it formidable to even the bravest of buyers. The figure pushed the gate open even further and it protested with a shriek that rent the still night. The laughter from the bonfire in Little Hangleton still continued despite the black-cloaked figure that was now advancing upon the most feared place in town.

It was time to emerge from the shadows. The mist began to rise.

The doorbell rang. The cold sound echoed throughout the vast house, the lights extinguished and lifeless in their sconces. A hooded back figure stood on the steps, his bony hand wrapped around the wand hidden beneath his cloak.

Scorpius Malfoy was in that bleary state of half-conscious, where the moment something happens you like to convince yourself it's all a dream. He knew that_ something_ had woken him, he just didn't know what. He stared up at the high and distant ceiling and in the end resolved that it was probably one of the peacocks crashing into a ground-floor window again. Just as he had rolled over and closed his eyes, the door to his room banged open.

"Get up." said his father's cold voice. He turned over to find Draco Malfoy staring at him icily, already dressed in his wizarding robes of black, which washed out his pale face and hair. "And get dressed."

Scorpius opened his mouth to ask why, but his father had already swept out of the room. He sat up in bed and wandered over to the wardrobe groggily, accidentally banging into his owl's cage, and her amber eyes snapped open and regarded him warily.

Since the only robes that he owned were his Hogwarts ones, embossed with the Gryffindor crest, he pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He always made sure that he hid his robes at the bottom of the closet, underneath his trunk, in case his grandfather decided that anything in the Malfoy household bearing the Gryffindor crest was poisonous and tried to burn them.

He was at the top of the vast staircase when he heard voices. Crouching down, he peered between the wooden railings. In the living room, gathered on the hard and threadbare chairs were an odd looking group of people. Three quarters of them had white blond hair and the other quarter was cloaked in a dark black, obscuring all but his silhouette. Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy sat next to each other both of their faces looking worried and Narcissa was constantly fiddling with her streaked hair. Draco, on the other hand, was sitting up straight and alert, any hint of uncertainty hidden behind a flawless façade.

The figure in the cloak was speaking and Draco was nodding, his face intent and serious. Scorpius leaned closer to try and hear and the floorboard that he was standing on creaked. None of the gathered people reacted, except from Lucius, who pulled his wand covertly from his robe and uttered a spell underneath his breath, glancing towards the corridor. Then he turned and looked directly at Scorpius, barely hidden behind the flimsy wooden balustrade.

"Ascendio!" he shouted. Scorpius felt himself flung up into the air, crashed into the lofty ceiling and ended up flat on his back at the bottom of the stairs. Lucius Malfoy's snarling face appeared as well as Narcissa's concerned one and Scorpius scrambled to his feet, rubbing his elbow. Draco walked over and grabbed his shirt, dragging him over to an armchair and forcing him to sit. Scorpius perched uncomfortably on the edge of the chair, his feet freezing against the unheated floor. He hadn't bothered to put on shoes.

"So." said the figure, in a surprisingly kind voice juxtaposed by his mysterious attire. His face was hidden entirely in shadows. "This is your son Scorpius." Draco nodded in reply.

"And you're going into your fourth year to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" The figure asked, directing his question to Scorpius.

"Yes." Scorpius replied staring down at his hands. Whenever he was nervous or anxious he started down at something. It had become a habit lately.

"And you're in Gryffindor house?" At this Scorpius looked up, a coldness starting to creep into his dark blue eyes.

"Yes." he said again, struggling to keep his voice even.

"And I understand that was a bit of a…. _disappointment_ to your family." Scorpius shifted uncomfortably, forcing his hands to unclench on his knees. He tried to repel the thought of the howler his grandfather had sent him the day after Sorting, and the odd looks and whispers that had followed him down the corridors for several weeks afterward.

Scorpius just stared defiantly back at where he thought the figure's eyes were. "First Malfoy to be a Gryffindor in 300 years. Surely there must be _something_ you could do to make up for that." Scorpius temper flared and he stared down at his hands again until the anger has passed. He hated the idea that he had to _make up_ for breaking tradition; for being different. And his grandfather's and father's disapproval made everything worse. In his opinion, they were the ones who should be proud for him being Gryffindor; they needed some bravery in their lives.

"That is why," said the figure. "I have a task for you." His pale hands extracted themselves from underneath his cloak and in a swift movement had pulled back the hood of the cloak, exposing his face.

His hair was white, as was his beard, but his eyebrows evidenced that he must once have been dark-haired. He had dark brown eyes that were surprisingly warm and welcoming, although Scorpius knew that anyone who had a task for him to "make up for the fact he was a Gryffindor" was not a person to be trusted easily.

"I am Maksim. The task that I have for you is to resurrect Salazar Slytherin."

Scorpius froze. Cold feeling trickled down his back, numbing all his senses until he felt like a giant block of ice.

"You must find Slytherin's body. Salazar had an obsession with hidden rooms and secret underground passages. I have it on reliable information that he was secretly buried in a tomb somewhere in or surrounding Hogwarts. A good place to start would be the Chamber of Secrets." Maksim rearranged his robes and folded his hands in his lap.

"Then you must find a way to let me into Hogwarts without anyone at the school finding out. Complete secrecy is imperative." Maksim eyed Scorpius, who was continually growing paler underneath his gaze. "There will be a passage or a way of some sort so that the school security can be thwarted. Salazar would have made sure of that." He cleared his throat then looked straight at Scorpius.

"And finally, Slytherins do not play by the rules unless it suits them. In this case it doesn't. You must find out about the process of resurrection. It is dark, dark magic. There may be information in the Restricted Section of your Library. Otherwise, you may have to find alternative sources. There is one thing I need that is at Hogwarts; one thing that only you will be able get for me."

There was a silence after this and Scorpius turned it over in his mind. He knew that he would not be allowed to say no. He _couldn't _say no. This time there was no choice between the dark and the light.

"And if he fails?" squeaked Narcissa, her shoulders hunched forward, her dark eyes flicking nervously between Maksim and her grandson.

"If he fails, then the rest of you are dead." said Maksim nonchalantly. Narcissa paled. "Obviously, it would be hard to do this alone." He said, looking back at Scorpius. "I have notified a few others of this task. You form a group called the Serpent's Coil. And together you will work to resurrect Salazar Slytherin. You have until the end of your fourth year."

And with that he left the room, the rest of the Malfoys staring blankly after him.


	2. Chapter 2

They were the last people off the train. This was because Finn had to spend twenty minutes crawling around on the floor of every single compartment looking for Colin II. They eventually found him in Albus' pocket.

So Violet stood staring at the last carriage up to Hogwarts. It had started to rain. She had never quite gotten used to the Thestrals. The one pulling this carriage stood resignedly in the rain, staring down at the muddy ground. Out of curiosity, Violet walked up to it and put a hand on its neck. The Thestral looked at her, its great black eyes expressive and painful. It must be seriously depressing to be a creature that can only be seen as a side effective of death.

They piled into the carriage and Violet squinted through the rain dripping off her brow. The carriage still didn't move. Violet sighed and whispered:

"Impervious." Finn scowled at her, until she pointed her wand at him and the water repelled off his robes. He hadn't been able to master that in Charms the previous year.

"Why isn't it moving?" complained Rose, looking forlornly up the road, where mini-landslides of mud were now forming.

Just then a figured came running into view from the direction of the train. The figure soon became recognisable as Scorpius Malfoy.

"Hurry up!" yelled Albus, putting up a hand to shelter his eyes from the onslaught of the now driving rain. Scorpius just glared at him and slowed to a walk as he neared the carriage. His hair was dripping into his face, and his robes were soaked. Violet recalled that Scorpius had been the second person to perform the Impervious Charm—after her—and that obviously he just wasn't bothered to use it. He put a hand out when he reached the Thestral and Violet bit back a gasp. She wondered who he'd seen die and just as quickly pushed the thought away. Whoever it was, she didn't care.

He remained by the Threstal's shoulder for a few more seconds, before clambering into the carriage clumsy, tripping on his robes in the process. He sat down in the back corner next to Violet, and the carriage jerked into motion. Violet grabbed onto the wooden edge to stop herself from sliding into Scorpius' thin frame.

There was an awkward silence until Albus said: "How's Colin looking forward to starting?"

"The toad or my brother?" Finn replied. Albus gave him a look in response. "He's really excited. Hasn't stop talking about it. I mean, literally. I swear he was talking in his sleep last night." He grinned. "Hogwarts! Hogwarts! Gryffindor!" He imitated, flailing his arms around and smacking Rose in the nose.

"Ow." she complained, elbowing him in the ribs. Albus and Violet laughed. Scorpius continued looking back down the trail. Violet's laughter trailed off and Albus and Rose where busy discussing whether Teddy and Victoire were a good couple or not. She kept on looking at Scorpius. Apart from his hair and skin colour he looked nothing like his father. Even his hair was messy and unkempt, whereas on the occasions she had regretfully seen his father, Draco's hair was always slicked back and painfully neat.

Scorpius seemed to sense someone's eyes on him, as he turned around and fixed Violet with a slightly intrigued and slightly bored expression. She hurriedly looked away and tried to ignore the colour in her cheeks.

"What about you, Violet?" Albus asked laughing.

"What?" she asked, coming back to the conversation. He opened his mouth to reply, but just then they reached the stairs leading up to Hogwarts and the carriage jolted to a halt.

Scorpius sprang out and landed lightly on the ground, and started walking up the stairs two at a time without a backward glance. Violet jumped out of the carriage and proceeded up the stairs. Rose and Finn were up ahead, exchanged in some heated argument about the best way to preserve the life-span of a toad.

"You alright?" Albus asked, looking at her. "You seem a bit out of it."

"Huh?" said Violet, half-listening. It took her about three seconds to process what Albus had said. "Oh yeah. Just tired." Albus looked unconvinced, staring up the stairs where Scorpius had disappeared into the entrance hall. Something steeled in his face.

They reached the top of the stairs and were greeted by a blast of warm air from the Entrance Hall. Filch was standing inside the doorway, holding a mop, yelling at them about trekking mud in. It occurred to her that it was odd that one of the only people who couldn't do magic in the school was the person to whom it would probably most useful. Mrs Norris hissed. Violet had an absurd inclination to hiss right back.

They filed into the Great Hall, down the long tables until they found a group of seats at the Gryffindor table. There were two seats across from them. Rose had gone around the other side of the table and sat down, whereas Finn proceeded to crawl under the table, smacking his head on the underneath of the table and making the entire thing jolt. Violet sat down, with Albus on her right and—conveniently—Scorpius on her left, who was staring at his pale hands, as usual.

She turned to Albus to say something, but at that moment the great oak doors opened and Professor McGonagall strode in, followed by a bunch of very nervous—and very wet—looking first-years. Finn craned his neck, and nearly head-butted Rose, trying to see his brother. Violet turned around and scanned the pack for Colin, but he wasn't there. She had to lean against Albus in order to avoid brushing shoulders with Scorpius, who was looking with a mildly inquisitive expression at the new first-years.

"Where…?" Finn muttered

When all the first-years had reached the front, there was the sound of heavy boots on the stone floor, and collectively everyone turned around again, to see Hagrid tramping down the centre aisle, half-dragging a small boy in his wake, who was wearing what looked like a bear suit and which later resolved itself into Hagrid's giant fur coat. His hair was sopping wet, as was the rest of him, and he was leaving a trial of drips behind him. Violet could see Filch shaking his fist at him from the Entrance Hall.

"He did not…" Finn said in disbelief. Colin's eyes raked the Gryffindor table and his gaze finally fell on Finn. He smiled wider and waved wildly.

"Finn! Finn! Guess what? I fell in the lake!" The Gryffindor table laughed and Finn put his head in his hands, groaning.

"And I found your toad!" he held up Colin the first, and Finn laughed. Colin—the toad—hopped out of Colin the human's hands and onto the face of a Hufflepuff sitting nearby, who squealed and batted at him with her hands. He fell to the floor and Colin picked him up gently, and placed him a top the Gryffindor table, then continued walking towards his classmates.

Colin the first hopped up the table towards Finn, who grabbed him and put him in the opposite pocket to Colin the second.

"You'll have to come up with another name." Violet whispered across the table, laughing. "All these Colins are getting too confusing."

Finn's retort was interrupted when the Sorting Hat began to sing.

"_Good evening and welcome back to all_

_We've been gone far too long_,

_We start another Sorting_

_And I shall sing my song._

_This year will be one of promises and failures,_

_Of fulfilment, disappointment and distrust,_

_So never cease to be wary of the unseen_

_For on you a task may well be thrust._

_This task could be unknown_

_To all but the brave at heart_

_A task for one placed wrongly,_

_For the one set apart._

_Be wary of that thing_

_That lurks in shadows deep,_

_Always watch your back_

_For in ignorance this thing creeps._

_Remember weakness_

_Is not something to be shown,_

_To all but the knowledgeable_

_A lesson shall be loaned._

_You may believe in fate_

_Or nothing at all,_

_In standing down and standing up,_

_All great things must fall._

_But you'd do well _

_To remember only this,_

_For every one you save_

_There will be two you miss._

_You were given choice_

_Do not abuse it thus,_

_Your destination is decided,_

_Choose your path you must._

_So remember these_

_Wise words of wisdom,_

_None but me and me alone_

_Is qualified to give them._

_And remember I'm a Sorting Hat_

_I don't make mistakes,_

_If you're go wrong_

_It's because of the choices you make._

There was a polite round of applause at the conclusion of the song and a few wolf-whistles from James. If the Sorting Hat was capable of bowing, it probably would have. It always seemed exceptionally proud of its songs. After a while listening to the Sorting Hat's songs though, everyone does become rather intrigued as to what it might come up with next. There are a lot of words that rhyme with 'hat', after all.

Violet looked sideways to see down the long table as the Sorting begun with Alexander, Fairley being called up first. Out of her peripheral vision she saw Scorpius, who was staring down at the table, his blond hair falling into his face. His fists were clenched and shaking, and he had paled considerably. She wondered how a hat's song could have affected him to that degree.

Colin was sorted into Gryffindor and received a standing ovation from Fred, James and Charlie Jordan. The rest of the Sorting was a blur to Violet, except for a few familiar names called out by McGonagall. Eventually it ended, but just as Yaxley, Benson had been sorted and walked off towards the Slytherin table, Professor Lovegood began to speak.

"Welcome back everyone. I hope no one has been affected by any Wrackspurts these holidays. It was perfect weather for them. A reminder that the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to all students…for some reason that I can't quite recall—but it's a good reason, so don't go in there." She turned to walk away from the lectern until Professor McGonagall whispered something to her and she turned back around. It seemed to Violet that the headmistress could really use a piece of paper to write her ideas on.

"Oh yes. We have a new teacher. Professor Lavender Brown will be taking over Divination from Sibel Trelawney who has decided to retire." Albus snorted with laughter. A brown haired witch stood up and smiled at the hall before sitting back down again.

"What?" asked Rose, looking curiously at Albus.

"You seriously haven't heard about Lavender Brown?" He managed, in between fits of laughter.

"No." said Rose innocently.

"About Lavender Brown and your dad?" Albus glanced at Violet who was staring back at him with a slightly bemused expression.

"Where'd you hear that from?" asked Violet.

"My dad." Albus laughed, trailing off as the food appeared in front of them.

"Finally." Finn said, grabbing a plate of pumpkin pasties and dumping about four onto his plate. Nearly Headless Nick came floating up the table and nodding and greeting various students.

"Hey Nick." Violet waved with her fork.

"Hello Miss Mulveney." he nodded and stopped right above them, so that Violet had to look through him to see Finn and Rose.

"Nick I have a question." she continued.

"Fire away."

"Well, can you taste food? I mean, I know you obviously can't eat it… but say I was to throw this through you," she held up a Yorkshire pudding. "Would you be able to taste it?" Nick looked outraged.

"If you were talking about throwing that through my mouth then perhaps I would humour you, but through food through any part of me? That, Miss Mulveney is highly disrespectful to the dead." He huffed and then grabbed a pumpkin pasty and made a throwing motion but of course his hand just went straight through it, so it looked as if he was performing some obscure dance move.

Violet, Albus, Finn and Rose laughed, and Nick zoomed off up the table in search of better company. The Fat Friar was busy explaining who the Bloody Baron was to the Hufflepuff first years and the Grey Lady was bemoaning her fate in a corner.

Violet cast a look sideways and found Scorpius staring at her. They both hurriedly looked in opposite directions and Violet found herself wondering for the second time that day what a boy like Scorpius Malfoy had to be concerned about when it came to choice.


	3. Chapter 3

**3 years earlier**

The castle was reflected in the water in a kaleidoscope of lights, turrets and stone. The perfect image was destroyed when they start to get into the boats. Albus found one near the end of the row and beckoned Rose, Finn and Violet over.

"Four to a boat." A gruff voice yelled from the front. They piled in.

"Finn, for the last time would you get that bloody _toad_ off me!" Rose shrieked and lurched to one side and the boat tilted alarmingly, sending Violet sliding into Albus.

A shadow fell over their boat and they looked up to see the immense figure of Hagrid leaning over them.

"I said four to a boat." he grunted.

"Yes, you did." said Violet.

"You've got five." Hagrid prompted. It was only then that Violet noticed a skinny blond-haired boy sitting at the bow of the boat, one arm looped around the pole holing the lantern. "I didn't finish me magical education and I know that."

"We haven't yet started ours." Violet reminded him. Hagrid raised his eyebrows, then grabbed Finn by his cloak.

"C'mon Creevey. You're riding wiv me." Finn shot the rest of the group a half apologetic, half slightly alarmed look. Hagrid voice receded into the night saying: "Better not do what your dad did. He fell in the lake."

Hagrid got into a boat at the end of the shore; Finn huddled as far away from the edge as physically possible, and as one the boats set off.

The Entrance Hall was lit with candles of varying lengths in metal sconces on the walls. Chatter from the Great Hall echoed off the stone walls. A woman with her greying hair pulled into a tight bun had announced herself as Professor McGonagall, given them some very confusing instructions then left them on the stairs with not the slightest idea what to do.

"So." said Albus, fidgeting with the edge of his robes. "Where're you from?" he asked Violet.

"Countryside in Rutland." she replied absent-mindedly, staring up at the vaulted stone ceiling, the reverberating sound pounding her ears. The pale blond haired boy from the boats was standing nearby staring determinedly at his shoes.

"You?" she asked, turning back to Rose and Albus.

"Ottery St. Catchpole." they replied in unison.

"So, that's how you know each other." she nodded, casting another glance around the immensity of the entrance hall.

"Actually we're cousins." Albus added.

"Seriously?" said Violet. "That makes so much sense now!" At that moment Finn came running to them, mercifully dry but looking glum.

"Colin jumped in the lake." he said indignantly.

"Who's Colin?" asked Rose, looking confused.

"My pet toad." cried Finn.

"Well, he's a frog so—" started Violet.

"He's a _toad_." corrected Finn.

"Whatever. So he can swim—"

"But there's a Giant Squid in there!" insisted Finn.

"Yeah well, that train ride with you would have made any self-respecting toad want to commit suicide." Violet muttered. Rose and Albus laughed.

Right then the doors to the Great Hall opened and Professor McGonagall hustled them down the aisle between two house tables. Sitting on the raised platform at the end, on a rickety looking stool was the Sorting Hat. Violet felt Albus shift beside her uncomfortably and a cold shiver of her own made her curl her hands into fists.

She had no reason to feel like that, she knew. Her parents didn't care what house she was in—they rarely care about much these days—but she still couldn't help but be a little nervous. It didn't help that everyone in the entire school was staring at them.

The roll progressed incredibly slowly, trickling from A to B to C and on and on and on until Violet thought she might faint from a combination of nerves and pure boredom. The only bright spot was that Finn Creevey was placed in Gryffindor, albeit without Colin the toad. He ran off towards the table of cheering Gryffindor's before realising he still had the hat on, and had to walk back, blushing bright red.

Finally they came to the middle section of the Sorting. Even Professor McGonagall's patience seemed to be waning, as the Sorting Hat seemed to be particularly attentive today and was taking its time Sorting.

"Malfoy, Scorpius." McGonagall snapped tiredly. The blond boy next the Violet looked up from his shoes and walked proudly towards the platform. Violet looked down at her watch, as she had taken to timing everyone's Sorting to relieve the boredom.

The Hat was placed on the boy's long and messy white blond hair, and Violet looked down at her wrist then back up again. Scorpius' hands were clenched into fists on his knees and the Sorting Hat was frowning deeply. It dragged on and on and on. Finally the Sorting Hat opened its mouth. Violet looked down. Two minutes and forty-three seconds. The longest yet.

"Gryffindor." The Hat proclaimed. Silence descended across the hall. The Slytherin table were looking at each other, many of them whispering in dissent. The Gryffindors were looking at each other in disbelief then started clapping slowly and awkwardly, and still there were those keeping their hands firmly apart. Scorpius got off the stool and walked over to the Gryffindor table, an unreadable expression drawn over his face.

The clapping stopped and McGonagall read out her next name. "Mulveney, Violet." She pushed forward and walked steadily towards the stool, placing the Sorting Hat onto her head. Darkness ensued as the inside of the Hat engulfed her vision.

"Hmmm…" said a creepy voice right in her head. "We have a nice specimen here, don't we?"

I'm not some type of laboratory experiment, thought Violet.

"And a very feisty one." said the Sorting Hat. It took her a while to realise that the Sorting Hat could read her thoughts.

"Smart, rude, resourceful, and very brave." The Sorting Hat deliberated. "Now, let me think. You'd make a very good Ravenclaw." No thanks, thought Violet before she could stop herself. I'm not being part of the geek club.

The Sorting Hat laughed. "Very well, then. A Gryffindor Hogwarts shall make of you yet." The Hat paused, raised its voice to outside Violet's head, and shouted: "Gryffindor!"

She took the Hat off her head and was greeted with rapturous applause. Albus and Rose were looking at her and smiling and Finn was being incredibly embarrassing and waving wildly from his spot at the Gryffindor table. Violet walked over and sat down next to him across from Scorpius, who had now directed his gaze to his empty plate.

Violet daydreamed for the majority of the remainder of the Sorting, at one point trying to will food to appear on her plate, just for the entertainment.

"Albus Potter!" said Professor McGonagall. Albus walked up, running a hand anxiously through his messy black hair. It took forty-seven seconds for the Sorting Hat to announce: "Gryffindor!"

The Gryffindor table erupted with applause, a black hair boy who looked disturbingly like Albus wolf-whistling loudly. Under the cover of the applause, Violet leant over and said to Finn:

"I didn't know he was Harry Potter's son."

"Neither did I." grinned the over-excited Finn. Albus sat down next to Scorpius, smiling and waving the black haired boy down the table and a red haired boy next to him. The rest of Sorting passed quickly, with a very happy Rose being placed in Gryffindor.

Once the Sorting had finished, McGonagall picked up the stool and the Hat and carried it out of the hall. Talking broke out and Violet was introduced to James, Albus' older brother, and Fred, Albus and Rose's cousin.

Abruptly, the entire Hall went silent. Violent turned to see a blond haired woman standing at the podium in front of the teacher's table.

"Hello." she said. Her voice was light and floaty and sound like she was only half rooted in reality.

"Who's that?" Violet whispered to Rose next to her.

"Professor Lovegood. She's the head mistress." She whispered back, before turning her attention to Professor Lovegood. She was wearing an outfit rather unseen in the teaching profession. Several layers of multi-coloured shirts, a brightly striped skirt and stockings into boots made of some weird hide, along with an assortment of necklaces and some elbow length rainbow fingerless gloves. Not to mention the edible-looking earrings.

"I hope you've all had a good break. Some of you may have seen the Thestrals coming up here. You'll pleased to know that they're all very well and one of the females gave birth to a lovely calf over the summer." She turned to walk away from the podium, but Professor McGonagall leaned forward and reminded her of something and she turned back and said absent-mindedly:

"Oh and the Forbidden Forest is out of bounds as usual and there is to be no magic of any kind performed in the corridors. The portraits of the sixth floor are still recovering." She turned and went back to her seat.

"She's eccentric isn't she?" Violet remarked, clapping.

"Yeah, but she's great. She went to school with Mum and Dad." Rose replied grinning. Suddenly the plates Violet and the rest of hall had been eyeing filled with food of every kind. Violet loaded her plate up with vegetables of every kind, corned beef, and some weird green thing and started to eat.

"This is great—ow!" exclaimed Albus, as a flying chunk of potato hit him smack in the nose. Violet looked up the table to see James and Fred doubled over laughing, a plate full of roast potatoes in front of them.

"So… Harry Potter's son, hey?" Finn asked Albus. Albus went bright red and focused on his pumpkin soup.

"It's no big deal."

"No big deal? Your dad—"

"Isn't me. If you shut up about it, I'll let you meet him." Finn grinned and diverted his attention to Scorpius instead.

"So Malfoy… Gryffindor, eh?" asked Fred leaning down the table to talk to him, the sleeve of his robes in danger of taking a dip in the pumpkin soup.

"No one calls me Malfoy." he said, meeting Fred's eyes evenly. "Except for people who dislike me."

"Really?" said Violet, tilting her head. "Because I'd never call you Malfoy—I find it quite an annoying name—but I'm pretty sure I dislike you."

Scorpius scowled at her. Fred had turned back to James and was busy catching peas in his mouth, so Albus asked:

"So, Scorpius Benjamin Malfoy. How do you like being in—"

"Your middle name is _Benjamin_?" Finn spluttered almost choking on his roast beef.

"Yes." Scorpius replied curtly, shooting Albus a scathing look. "And to answer your question, Gryffindor is alright house to be in. Better than Hufflepuff." He said that particularly loudly and a few Hufflepuff second-years from the next table glared at him.

"Really?" Violet asked. "So you're not annoyed at being in Gryffindor. You know, with the whole-first Malfoy-in-Gryffindor-in-three-hundred-years type of thing." Scorpius directed his gaze back to his plate and didn't speak for the rest of the meal.

When Violet finally returned to her dormitory after wandering the corridors behind a prefect and creating a song with the common room password so she wouldn't forget it, she was absolutely exhausted. She barely had time to marvel at the coziness of Gryffindor common room, before the same prefect directed her up to her dormitory and told them all to go to bed. She fished her pajamas out of her trunk and fell into bed, pulling the curtains around her.

She didn't want any of the others to see her weakness. The darkness crept stealthily at the edge of her vision, threatening to become an all-encompassing black circle. After staring at the ceiling and thinking about the evening's happenings as much as she could, she closed her eyes and let herself surrender to the nightmares.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews I really appreciate all the feedback and enjoy the constructive criticism! I promise to reply to all reviews; if you have an account I'll PM you and if it's a guest review I'll reply down the bottom of the following chapter! I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Sorry if the time jumping stuff is a little confusing but it will make sense soon!**

**Teresa xx**

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Violet and Albus traipsed into breakfast the next morning, both bleary-eyed and yawning. They joined Rose and Finn, who were already sitting at the Gryffindor table.

"Good day to you all!" said Finn cheerily, pouring pumpkin juice into his goblet. Violet sat down across from him.

"How can you be like this in the morning?" She groaned, grabbing a plate of sausages and pulling it towards her.

"Sugar." said Finn simply, handing her a platter of iced buns. McGonagall was walking up the Gryffindor table, handing out timetables to various students. Scorpius walked down the long table and sat in the spare seat next to Violet as McGonagall handed them their timetables.

"What do we have first?" asked Finn, who had put his timetable down on the table and already succeeded in spilling pumpkin juice over it.

"Charms." Violet replied. She made a face. "With the Slytherins." Just then the post arrived, owls swopping in and out of the roof trusses of the Great Hall and dropping an array of packages, letters and correspondences on to the tables in front of the students.

A ruffled brown owl dropped an envelope in front of Finn; it landed on the edge of his bowl and catapulted his cereal into his face.

"Thanks Lionel." he said to his owl, wiping milk off his face with a sleeve. Both Rose and Albus received a letter from home; Albus' snowy white owl stopping briefly to grab some of his bacon before taking off again.

All three of them tore off the envelopes and began to read, Finn trying to eat his scrambled eggs at the same time. Violet stared uncomfortably at her plate and tried to ignore the confused glance she got from Scorpius.

"No letters from home?" he asked her, without looking up.

"I'm sure my owl just got lost or something." She mumbled defensively. The other three were still immersed in their letters when a sleek black owl dropped a small red envelope in front on Scorpius. He frowned.

"It's a howler. Gotta open it." shrugged Finn through a mouthful of bacon. Scorpius braced himself and lifted the flap on the envelope. A male voice boomed out across the hall.

"SCORPIUS BENJAMIN MALFOY! How DARE you be in Gryffindor! Do you have any idea how serious this is? You have broken a THREE HUNDRED YEAR tradition of Malfoys being Slytherin! Your father and I are SO disappointed in you! Your grandmother has been in bed all day from the shock of it! Unless you somehow manage to prove yourself worthy to be called a Malfoy, then don't bother coming home at all!" The howler stayed suspended in the air for another second, before bursting into flames and disintegrating into a pile of ashes on the table.

All of the Great Hall was silent, staring at Scorpius. Even Finn had paused, a spoonful of cereal halfway to his mouth. Scorpius took one look around the hall, at the Slytherins sniggering behind their hands and the Gryffindors looking blankly at him, grabbed his bag and his timetable and strode out of the hall.

The bell had just rung by the time that Violet, Albus, Finn and Rose managed to find their way to the Third Floor Charms Corridor, after taking misleading directions from Peeves, Finn walking into a tapestry he thought had a secret passage behind it but actually ended up being a wall, and getting stuck on a staircase that had decided to move away from the exact landing that they needed to get to.

They took their seats, at the back of the room in the top row, as most of their classmates had managed to find the Charms classroom before they did. Most of the Slytherins were seated on the other side of the room, creating a clear division between the two houses.

The chatter died away as Professor Flitwick—who seemed to be shorter than his desk, if that was physically possible—stepped up onto a high pile of books and began to call the role. Scorpius walked in, his head bent, bag slung over his shoulder and slipped into the seat next to Violet for the second time that day, just as Flitwick said:

"Scorpius Malfoy." Scorpius was so preoccupied, presumably by the happenings at breakfast, that he didn't reply. Violet looked at him. He was busy grabbing his wand out of his bag. She elbowed him in the ribs. He looked up, saw Professor Flitwick looking at him and muttered: "Here."

Flitwick nodded and looked back down at his role. "Violet Mulveney?"

"Here." She replied. Once Flitwick had rolled up his parchment and placed on his desk, he said:

"Wands out." There was a commotion as everyone got their wands out and placed them on the desk in front of them.

"Today we will be practising the levitating charm. Please open your textbooks to page 16 and read the instructions there. Pay close attention to the pronunciation of the spell or you will discover the nasty consequences. One feather between two." He waved his wand, and feathers flew down the rows and proceeded to place themselves on every second desk.

The last feather of the top row came to rest directly between Violet and Scorpius' desk. Both of them stared at it forlornly. Violet turned around and grabbed her Charms textbook from her bag and placed it on her desk. She rifled through to page 16 and started to read. Once she was finished, she grabbed her wand and looked over to see Scorpius holding the feather, examining it.

She waited a few seconds, then cleared her throat saying: "You do realise we need to use that feather."

Scorpius nodded and continued turning it over in his thin hands. Violet sighed and said:

"Look, are you going to give me the feather or not?" At this Scorpius looked up and stared at her with a slightly bemused expression.

"Are you going to lend me your Charms textbook or not?" he replied. Violet glared at him.

"Don't you have your own?" she snapped. Scorpius shook his head.

"They were sold out at Flourish and Blotts. My father was going to send it… but it doesn't look like that's going to be happening now, does it?" he fired back. Violet rolled her eyes, then pushed the book over onto Scorpius' desk and he set the feather down on hers.

Violet paused for a moment, recalling the instructions from the textbook and then raised her wand, saying clearly: "Wingardium Leviosa." The feather rose up into the air, and the rest of the class, most of which were dejectedly prodding their feathers with their wands, or waving them so fast they were a blur, looked up.

Professor Flitwick looked pleased and said: "Well done Miss Mulveney!" Albus scowled and continued prodding his feather until it eventually caught fire and he had to bat it out with his Charms textbook. Violet directed the feather back to the desk, where Scorpius had finished reading and grabbed it.

"Wingardium Leviosa." he said, in a tone that was almost bored. The feather rose easily up into the air, to the delight of Professor Flitwick who said: "10 points to Gryffindor."

"Bet you their feather's jinxed." muttered Finn from next to Albus. Violet placed her elbows on the desk and leant her head on her hands. Scorpius was staring other at the Slytherins, none of which had even managed to get their feather to twitch, let alone hover.

A dark haired girl across from Violet was whispering to the boy next to her behind her hand. They were both staring straight at Scorpius, who was glaring right back. His hands clenched into fists around his wand on the table.

They were walking across the courtyard, following Nearly Headless Nick's directions to Defence Against the Dark Arts. It was the class at the very end of the day, straight after lunch and Finn was busy complaining about how he thought he had a repetitive strain injury in his hand after all the lines Professor Binns had made them copy in History of Magic.

"I'm serious! That guy—ghost—has an inability to edit properly." said Finn. "I mean, I could sum the entire lesson in one sentence: Voldemort rose again after a while and then was defeated by Harry Potter. Done." He threw his hands up in the arms. "That note-taking was totally unnecessary."

"You forgot several things in that sentence," Rose pointed out. "The Battle of Hogwarts, the loss of life, the Horcruxes."

"Whatever. I got the main point." Finn shrugged.

"James says that we have a substitute teacher for Defence Against the Dark Arts." said Albus, changing the subject.

"Why?" Violet examined her Defence Against the Dark Arts textbook.

"Dunno. Apparently the usual one was on some 'secret business' on the holidays or something and hasn't gotten back yet." Albus replied, squinting in the bright sunlight in the courtyard.

"The last time a teacher went on some 'secret business' it was to recruit giants." Rose added. She looked at Finn. "You would have known that if you were listening in History of Magic."

"I was listening!" said Finn, indignantly. "I just—"

Suddenly Violet held up a hand and said: "Do you hear that?"

"What?" said Finn, turning around. Violet hear a faint whistling noise, getting closer and closer.

"What the…?" muttered Violet turning around and seeing a maroon coloured ball flying straight at her head. Albus turned around, his eyes widening as he saw the bludger pelting directly towards him.

Violet reacted quickly, grabbing Albus' textbook out of his hands and raising it above her head. She smacked the bludger as hard as she could and it went spiralling off into the air, like an uncoordinated comet.

She shoved the textbook back into Albus' arms and he looked down in disbelief.

"You dented my history textbook!" he cried. "_You just dented my history textbook!_"

"Better that than your face. Come thank me when you've re-evaluated your priorities." She strode off towards one of the doorways off the courtyard, only to find her way impeded by a tall Gryffindor.

"Hello." said the young wizard.

"Uh, hi." Violet replied, looking confused.

"I saw you hit that bludger pretty well just then." He regarded her curiously.

"Thanks?" Violet said, apprehensively. Albus had joined her and looked the boy up and down, then glanced at Violet.

"Sorry, I haven't introduced myself! I'm Ben. Ben McLaggen. Captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team." He considered her expectantly.

"I'm Violet Mulveney." she said shortly.

"We're one beater short on the team. Have you played before?"

"No. But I can fly alright."

"Good." McLaggen nodded. "Meet me on the Quidditch Pitch at six o'clock this evening." With that he pushed past them and walked briskly across the courtyard. Violet and Albus looked after him, until Violet shook herself mentally and then strode down the corridor to Defence Against the Dark Arts. Albus jogged to catch her up.

"Wait. What just happened there? Did that guy ask you on a date or something?" He said, looking nonplussed. Violet snorted.

"No. He just asked me to trial for the Quidditch team, idiot." Albus went bright red.

"Oh. Right."

The substitute Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was a tall man, with dark hair and serious but sinister face. He scrawled his name up on the blackboard, as if they couldn't remember his name unless it was right in front of them.

"I am Professor Blackwood. Today," with a flick of his wand, he closed the textbook that was open in front of Violet. "we will not be needing textbooks. Nor will we need these desks. Everyone stand up."

The class stood up, slightly confused as to what they could possibly doing in a lesson with no textbooks and no desks. With a wave of his wand Professor Blackwood sent the desks to the sides of the classroom, so that there was a large empty space in the centre of the room.

"Today, we will be tackling Boggarts." Violet's hand flew into the air. "Yes?" he drawled.

"But sir, we're not supposed to cover Boggarts this term. Or even this year. That's defensive magic for third-years at least." Professor Blackwood stepped forward until he was directly in front of Violet. She was quite tall but compared to his stature she felt positively dwarfed.

"I do not take kindly to students telling me how to teach my class." He turned around and made a wooden chest with elaborate carvings hover towards them and set it down on the floor a few feet away from Violet. "However, as you seem to know so much about the Defence Against the Dark Arts syllabus, perhaps you would like to be the first to face the Boggart?"

Violet glanced around at her fellow classmates, who were all staring at her. She hadn't even noticed Scorpius Malfoy standing right next to her, regarding the professor with a look of pure disdain. She looked back up at him and said: "Alright."

Professor Blackwood smirked and proceeded to walk over to the chest and stand behind it, his hand resting on the lid.

"Everyone move back." The class shuffled back a few steps. Scorpius and Albus remained near the front of the group.

"The necessary spell is Riddikulus." He said shortly. "Ready?" Violet nodded. He wrenched the box open. A dark shadow slipped out of its container, materialising in front of Violet into an old decrepit woman with a moth-eaten pointed hat and loose green robes. She was cackling and muttering to herself, fidgeting constantly and adjusting her hat.

Violet froze. She knew what this was. Madness. Her worst fear. The old woman advanced towards her. Violet tried desperately to raise her wand and form the words 'Riddikulus' but she couldn't breathe let alone cast a spell through the tightness in her chest. Her knees gave way beneath her and she slumped sidewards on the floor, helpless only to watch as the old woman walked forwards. Just as the cackling woman reached her, someone shouted "Riddikulus!" behind her and the lady disintegrated into a pile of dust. Violet looked behind her as she clambered hurriedly to her feet and saw Scorpius with his wand extended.

"How," he raised an eyebrow, "was that even remotely frightening?" he remarked casually, lowering his wand. Violet snapped.

"Expelliarmus!" she yelled, directing her wand at Scorpius. His wand flew across the room and into one of the desks stacked at the perimeter. Realising that she really knew no appropriate hexes that wouldn't earn her a detention, she swung at Scorpius with her left fist.

He grabbed her hand easily and forced to the ground; she kicked his knees and he crumpled to the ground beside her. In one movement she had one foot on his chest and her wand to his throat.

"Take that back." She snarled at him.

"What?" he replied innocently. "It's not my fault that your mother's half-mad."

Something in Violet's face changed. She took her foot off Scorpius and stowed her wand inside her robes. Then she pushed through the crowd of students, grabbed her bag from the back of the room and ran out of the classroom.

Scorpius took one glance at the rest of the class, retrieved his wand and went out after her.

She broke into a run once she reached the corridor. The pain in her chest was all-consuming and tears blinded her vision as she tore down the corridor and into bathroom. It was completely deserted. Moaning Myrtle heard her enter and dove back into her toilet.

She dumped her bag on the ground, and pulled off her jumper hoping it might ease the fire in her heart. Turning the faucet on full force she splashed water on her face, the droplets blending with her tears. She looked at herself in the mirror. The serious face, framed by long and thick brown hair and the grey eyes with flecks of violet for which she had been named for, reflected her mother's visage, causing another stitch to come undone in an already open wound.

She heard the skitter of footsteps and in the mirror saw someone appear behind her. She whipped around and saw Scorpius standing in the doorway, looking at her apprehensively.

She turned back to the mirror.

"How did you know?" was all she said.

"My aunt is a healer at St. Mungo's. She was there was your mother was brought in." he replied. Violet suddenly turned around, her knuckles going white where she clutched the sink.

"You just had to tell them didn't you? Couldn't keep your big mouth shut!" She yelled.

"I—" Scorpius stuttered.

"Expelliarmus!" she screamed, and Scorpius' wand flew out of his hand for the second time that day. He lunged for it and Violet took off running down the row of cubicles. Ordinarily, first-years shouldn't have had enough experience to have a full-on duel. But both being exceptionally bright, they knew spells and hexes that others didn't.

"Alarte Ascendre!" Violet spun to the side and the hex splintered one of the cubicle doors.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried again, running back out to the sinks. The spell missed, and shattered a faucet causing water to spray everywhere. Scorpius back away from Violet, frantically wracking his brains for another spell he could use. There was one. One he had heard his father use once but had never since the effects of it.

"Sectumsempra!" he yelled. The curse rebounded off a mirror with a crack and hit Violet in the shoulder. She fell to the floor. With his wand held aloft, he cautiously walked around the bank of sinks until he could see Violet splayed on the floor. There was a long tear in her robes, down her arm.

He could see her blood mixing with the water on the white tiled floor.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favourites! Keep it up! I'm may not be able to update as regularly over the next few days because I have a lot of stuff on... anyway, I'll try my best!**

**Teresa xx**

* * *

Scorpius looked down at Violet a look of horror on his face. He heard footsteps behind and turned around to be confronted with Professor Blackwood regarding him with poorly masked fury. He could see the rest of the class gathered around the doorway out into the corridor. Professor Blackwood had knelt down beside Violet and was busy waving his wand over her injuries, the bloodstains slowly creeping back to nothingness.

Albus, Rose and Finn were standing at the front of the group. Rose and Finn looked concerned and frightened; Albus looked angry. His eyes flashed with fury as he gave Scorpius a cold look. The rest of the class were looking at each other and whispering, their eyes flicking between Scorpius and Violet and back again.

Finally, Professor Blackwood stood up. Violet was still lying on the ground, though the wound in her arm was no longer bleeding as heavily. Her face was white.

"Potter, go and get Professor McGonagall. The rest of you; back to class immediately." Scorpius started to follow his classmates back down the corridor.

"Not you, Malfoy. Stay here. I will be back. I have to take Miss Mulveney to the hospital wing." Professor Blackwood picked up Violet easily and walked out of the room, turning left down the corridor.

Scorpius stared at the water on the floor, the bloodstains still imprinted on his vision. He sank down weakly onto the floor, pulling his knees up to his chest. He remained like that for what felt like hours, until Professor Blackwood eventually returned.

He stumbled upright quickly, and Blackwood grabbed the collar of his robes, pulling him down the corridor, down a few staircases, through a passageway concealed by a tapestry and into Professor McGonagall office.

The door closed with snap behind him and McGonagall looked up.

"Sit."

"I understand that today, during what was supposed to be your Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson, you performed a hex in the first floor girl's lavatory that caused bodily harm to Gryffindor student, Violet Mulveney."

"I—" Scorpius started.

"That was not a question." McGonagall peered calculatingly over her glasses at Scorpius. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" said Scorpius, before he could stop himself.

"Hex her of course!" McGonagall replied, putting the papers she was reading down on the desk with a thump. "Your first day and you already have someone in the hospital wing!"

"We were arguing! She tried to disarm me, so I retaliated."

"Just like your father." Professor McGonagall muttered, shaking her head.

"I'm not my father!" Scorpius yelled, pushing back his chair and standing up abruptly. McGonagall looked unfazed.

"Sit down Mr Malfoy." She said. "When you performed the hex, did you have any idea what the consequences or effects of it would be?"

"No." Scorpius mumbled, directing his gaze to the wood grain of the desk. "It was just something I heard my father use once."

"Do you regret your actions?"

"Yes!" he said forcefully. "I mean—I was just trying to help her, because she was upset and—"

"Very well then Mr Malfoy. You will serve detention with me on Monday night. Do not return to Defence Against the Dark Arts. You should go straight back to your common room." Scorpius nodded and then rose to his feet to leave.

He paused, one hand curled around the doorknob. "Professor?" he asked.

"Yes?" said McGonagall, without looking up.

"Will Violet be alright?" His face was so nervous and full of remorse that McGonagall started to consider whether he wasn't that like his father after all.

"She will be fine. A little tired perhaps, but okay." Scorpius nodded, relieved and left the room. McGonagall stared at the papers on her desk, but didn't read them. The boy really didn't seem like his father at all. Regardless of who he was, ordinarily anyone who caused a deep wound to another student would have had to speak to the headmistress at the least. But something about that boy reminded her of another boy she had once known, albeit one with black hair and in Slytherin…

When he got back to the Gryffindor common room, it was basically deserted, except for a few sixth and seventh years that had had a free period. As he walked in, they kept their heads buried in their books. He was grateful for the break from disdainful looks and whispers.

He made a beeline for a table hidden in the corner of the room and proceeded to dump his masses of homework out of his bag, wondering all the while why teachers bothered to give them homework on the first day. Surely they should be encouraging getting know your classmates and socialising? Not that that would have been the case for him no matter how much homework he got, but still.

As other students for the older years began to trickle into the common room, Scorpius kept his eyes focused more studiously on his textbook and parchment, pressing extra hard with his quill so that the scratching partially drowned the condescending whispers directed his way.

Eventually his homework decreased to a manageable amount, so he took a break and headed down to dinner. He took a shortcut away from the traffic of the main corridors, appearing behind a statue in a side corridor off the entrance hall.

He chose a seat at the Gryffindor table far away from Albus, Finn and Rose, who were engaged in a deep conversation. At one point they all stopped talking and looked unashamedly at Scorpius, who focused instead on his roast beef, which he ate at double speed, before sprinting back up to the Gryffindor common room. He liked running. It gave him a purpose; a destination.

He returned to his spot in the corner. He had just started on the essay they were supposed to have completed for History of Magic, when he ran out of parchment. Leaving his things where they were, he trekked up the stairs to the first-year dormitory.

He pushed open the door, and then froze. The seven other beds stood pristine and made perfectly by the house elves. However the eighth bed, the one furthest away from the door, was wrecked.

The pillows had been slashed and feather covered the duvet, which had been roughly pulled off and now lay on the floor. The curtains around the bed hung askew and the trunk at the foot of the bed was flung open and the contents spread over the floor surrounding the bed.

Scorpius walked over to it and surveyed the damage. He was too tired and emotionally drained to even bother to try and repair it. He dropped his wand on the bedside table. Then he fell back onto his bed, stared up at the ceiling as feathers floated down around him.

Violet was back the next day, having spent the night in the hospital wing. Her injuries were completely healed, though at breakfast Scorpius noticed that she was favouring her right arm. All the seats were practically taken by the time that Scorpius got down the Great Hall. He sat down next to Finn and directly across from Violet. They made eye contact briefly, and then both looked away quickly.

Violet found herself wondering about Scorpius more and more throughout breakfast that morning. Albus and Finn had been ranting to her before the post about "how unhinged that Malfoy boy was," and "how we should have known he had dark magic in him."

For some reason she couldn't quite specify, Violet had a feeling that Scorpius hadn't meant to hex her. She'd had a lot of time to think whilst staring at the ceiling in the hospital wing, and had come to the conclusion that whilst she could forgive Scorpius for hexing her, she couldn't ever overlook the fact that he had told the entire Defence Against the Dark Arts class about her mother.

Eventually the bell rang for class and they all got up to go to their first class: Potions. Violet was walking out of the entrance hall saying something about cauldrons to Albus when Scorpius brushed past her and then stopped.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?" he asked. Against her better judgement, Violet nodded. Albus gave her a confused look and she followed Scorpius into a quieter corridor.

"What?" she asked, once the footsteps and chatter of the main corridor had faded away.

"I… I just wanted to say sorry for the other day." Once he had started, all the words seemed to rush out before he could stop them. "I didn't know what the hex would do and—"

"It's alright." said Violet quickly.

"Really?" asked Scorpius in disbelief.

"Yeah." she said. Scorpius almost smiled. Almost. Not quite. "But I can't forgive you for telling them that."

"Telling who what?" Scorpius frowned in confusion.

"The entire class that my mother's mad." Violet looked up at Scorpius, her eyes flashing angrily, but also muted with an ever-present sorrow. With that she turned on her heel and walked away. But before she was out of earshot she hesitated and turned around.

"Did your aunt at St. Mungo's tell you what drove her insane?" she said, pulling her bag higher on her right shoulder.

"No." Scorpius hoped suddenly that Violet might tell him.

"Good." was all she said as she continued back down the hall towards Potions.

When Scorpius slipped into the back of Potions, Violet looked up from the textbook she had been memorising. He sat at the table across from Albus, Rose, Finn and her. They made eye contact across the mist rising from the cauldrons. Between them passed an unspoken understanding.

There then ensued an icy silence between the two for the rest of the year.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi everyone! So I hope you like this next chapter! I've had a few people saying that they don't really like Violet, but hopefully this next chapter might make you warm to her a bit more! Thanks for all the reviews and keep it up! :)**

**Teresa xx**

* * *

The first morning of their fourth year appeared cloudy and blustery, the wind creating a howling voice down the corridors as Violet trekked up the stairs to the owlery. Once inside, the biting cold lessened slightly, but the wind still roared through the glassless windows.

Violet had never bothered to get an owl, even in first year. She knew that she wasn't going to be getting many letters from home, so she didn't really think it a worthwhile investment.

She was standing on one of the balconies on the upper floors looking out across the grounds, when she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She jumped and almost turned around, then ignored the person and continued looking out at Hagrid's hut, miniature from this distant and the Forbidden Forest, lurking silently beyond it.

The footsteps returned, closer this time. Out of her peripheral vision, Violet saw white blond hair, and Scorpius Malfoy came into view, his sleek black owl perched on his shoulder. He remained looking out at the view. There was an uncomfortable silence, then Scorpius asked:

"You don't have an owl?" He continued staring out at the grounds.

"No. Don't really need one." She shrugged.

"You don't get letters from home." He stated, looking over at her. She looked straight ahead.

"No." She said, focusing on the Forbidden Forest in the distance through the tears in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" said Scorpius, looking over concernedly.

"Fine." she replied, regaining her composure. "It's just the wind." She remained there for a few more seconds, then turned and said: "See you at breakfast."

"See you." Scorpius stared after her, until she disappeared down the stairs. He wondered what a girl with no owl and no letters would be doing at the owlery.

When Violet came down to breakfast there were very few people there. She sat at the Gryffindor table and began to read a stray Daily Prophet, whilst munching on her toast. Albus, Rose and Finn came down a considerable while later, just before the post arrived. Scorpius was sitting a little way down the table from them, and when the owls began to drop packages and parcels he looked at her, reminded of their early morning meeting in the owlery.

McGonagall handed out their timetables and they sped off to Potions, then History of Magic. Violet had to jab Finn several times in History of Magic to stop him from falling asleep. During Defence Against the Dark Arts, Professor Blackwood seemed to be in a foul mood. He always seemed to be in foul mood, ever since his permanent instalment as the Defence teacher.

They arrived at lunch with a bucket load of homework already, and a guarantee for only more with Transfiguration after lunch. Violet bolted down lunch and headed off to the library, hoping to get started on her History of Magic assignment before all the good books were taken.

She was walking down the first floor corridor, her nose buried in a parchment stack of notes she had taken in History of Magic. She had her head down when she walked straight into Scorpius, who was standing outside Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with a bunch of Slytherins.

"Look where you're going!" yelled a tall Slytherin as Violet's books and parchments scattered all over the floor. She glared at him.

"What were you doing in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom?" She asked, looking up from her books on the floor to scowl at the Slytherins and Scorpius.

"There's no rule against being in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom." said Scorpius, looking tired and worn.

"Perhaps not, but it is a _girl's _bathroom." Violet pointed out.

Most of the Slytherins scowled at her and started to walk down the corridor. Scorpius stayed behind, looking at Violet. She sighed and began to pick up her books. Scorpius knelt down beside her and started to gather up the scrolls of parchment scattered across the flagstone floor.

Violet stood up and balanced her books on top of one another. Scorpius straightened up next to her and held out the parchment he had collected.

"You really should number those." he said, handing them back to her.

"I have." she replied, indicating the numbers written at the bottom of each scroll in her cramped print. "Why were you in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom with a group of Slytherins?"

"No reason." Violet replied with a look. Scorpius sighed and looked at her. "I can't tell you."

Violet opened her mouth to say something, but just then the bell rang. She looked down at her watch: "Damn it! I still have to get my books!" she turned on her heel and start to run down the corridor as fast as she could whilst juggling her books and parchment.

"See you at… what do we have next?" Scorpius shouted at her retreating figure.

"Transfiguration!" she yelled back. She turned the corner and was out of sight. Scorpius continued staring down the corridor, before mentally shaking himself and continuing down the corridor to McGonagall's classroom, the weight of his task heavy on his shoulders.

When Violet returned to the common room that afternoon, most of the fourth years were gathered around the tables staring at their mound of homework instead of doing it. She joined Albus, Finn and Rose at a table near the corner, where Scorpius was working with his head down and arm leaning on a towering pile of books.

Violet didn't realise that she was staring at him until she realised that Finn was waving his hand in front of her face.

"Sorry." she mumbled. "Zoned out."

"So Violet, please explain to me, in simple terms, the content of today's History of Magic lesson." Finn propped his elbows up on his Charms textbook. She sighed. Usually, she wasn't one to give people her work, but she was exhausted from the early morning visit to the owlery and from the restless night beforehand, so she shoved her scrolls of History notes across the table to Finn and opened her Defence Against the Dark Arts homework.

"Score!" he and Albus hi-fived, and then started on their essays, quills flying to get them done as fast as possible. Violet started to work, blocking out the noise of the common room so effectively that Albus had to poke her several times to get her to answer a question.

After a few hours, Violet checked her watch and packed up her stuff at top speed, and sprinted up to her dormitory. As she flew the common room towards the portrait hole, Finn yelled: "Where're you going?"

"Quidditch trials!" she yelled back. She had been so tired that she hadn't noticed when Albus had left the table then walked through the common room—holding his broom.

When she arrived at the pitch, there were several people already there, standing in the mud and holding brooms in various states of repair.

"Hey Violet." said Charlie Jordan. He was captain, now that Ben McLaggen had left the previous year. She'd been on the team last year, when they'd narrowly lost to Ravenclaw in the final.

"Okay!" Charlie yelled. Everyone kept on talking, Albus and his brother James arguing as usual. "Shut up!" Charlie looked at Violet. She reluctantly stuck her fingers in her mouth, and let out a piercing whistle. Everyone stopped talking.

"I'm going to be trialling everyone in terms of their positions; so could Keepers go over under the hoops, Chaser over there, Seekers here and Beaters near the stands.

Everyone rearranged themselves into their groups. "I'll be trialling you in mock teams, then be running a few extra trials tonight if it's not clear during the games." Charlie sorted them into three teams, handed Violet a beaters bat, then counted down as they kicked off and he released the balls. Albus and James were Chasers together, with Hugo, Rose's younger brother hovering tentatively in front of the hoops. Jake McLaggen, Ben's brother, also in the fourth year was staring down the Chasers from the other end. Two fifth years Violet didn't know were in the Seeker positions, and there were four girls trialling as Chasers as well as the Potters.

The game began. Violet zoomed around, smacking the bludgers toward anyone who wasn't on her team. The Seeker from the other team eventually caught the Snitch, which was the slower, modified version used for quick games. The other team took to the air and Charlie gestured for Violet's team to keep playing. To her surprise, she saw Scorpius, blond hair shining in the setting sun, hovering above the pitch, playing Seeker. About five minutes into the game, Violet and Lucy Weasley were hovering, waiting for the bludgers to come back after they had both smacked them out across the grounds, when Lucy said:

"Look at that boy! He's really good." Violet turned to see Scorpius speeding towards the other end, bent low across his broomstick.

"Yeah, he is." Violet agreed absent-mindedly, staring at Scorpius as he dodged a few Chasers. She thought she could see a gleam of gold behind the hoops. The other team Seeker had noticed it as well, and was trying to catch Scorpius, who had a considerable head start.

Suddenly, Violet heard a whistling noise, she turned and said: "You might want to duck." Lucy spun upside down and Violet smacked the bludger toward the other team's keeper. She turned just in time to see Scorpius shoot _through_ the centre hoop, doing a full turn and then halt mid-air, holding the Snitch in his fist.

They all headed back to the ground, the other team's Seeker looking annoyed at having been beaten. Charlie Jordan stood in front of everyone holding their broomsticks and mud splattered.

"Okay!" he yelled. "I've seen enough from the trials to pick the team right now, so rather than previous captains I'm just going to tell you now." Everyone looked at each other, excited.

"So, Chasers: Albus Potter, James Potter and me. Beaters: Violet Mulveney and Fred Weasley. Keeper: Jake McLaggen and Seeker: Scorpius Malfoy."

Outraged cries and cheers greeted the announcement. James ruffled Albus' hair and Albus whacked him with his broom. The fifth-years trialling for the Seeker position advanced angrily on Charlie, and Fred Weasley high-fived Violet saying: "Only girl on the team!"

There had been several girls on the team last year, but they'd all been seventh years, apart from Roxanne, who was in the hospital wing after trialling her dad's new type of Nosebleed Nougat. Scorpius was staring at his broomstick but he looked relaxed.

Later, Albus and Violet walked up the stairs up to the common room, carrying their shoes because Filch had been yelling at them in the Entrance Hall about "the mud they keep trekking in" even though Violet pointed out that they were playing Quidditch, so they actually weren't touching the mud most of the time.

Albus went straight up the stairs to his dormitory. "How have you finished your homework?" Violet groaned.

"I didn't." Albus replied, turning with his foot on the first stair. "But Finn did." Violet rolled her eyes and changed back into normal clothes and headed back downstairs to complete her homework. By the time she got down there, the only people there were a few seventh years packing up their stuff for the night, and Scorpius, who was sitting in his usual corner, buried in a book.

Violet sat down and started writing her Defence Against the Dark Arts essay. She looked up when she sensed that someone was staring at her.

Scorpius was looking at her from over the top of his open History of Magic textbook. He looked tired and Violet realised that he had become even thinner over the break. "Good job at Quidditch trials." he said, looking back down at his book, but his eyes belied the fact that he wasn't reading.

"You too." Violet replied. She looked back down at her textbook. Scorpius spoke again: "When was the last Tri-wizard Tournament?"

"1994." Violet said.

"Thanks." Scorpius scrawled it down on his parchment and kept working. Violet looked down at her parchment and partially completed essay, but she couldn't concentrate. She couldn't understand why after four years they hadn't properly talked since the second day of first year and all of a sudden they'd now had three conversations in the same day. Violet was even more confused by the idea that she didn't mind it at all.

Around four o'clock on Saturday, Violet was heading off to the library to complete her Arithmancy assignment, carrying her towering pile of books down the first floor corridor. She was too busy staring out the window on the other side of the corridor, so when she tripped over the edge of her robes, she went sprawling and her books smacked to the floor, a violent explosion of sound and then silence. Violet crawled around, swearing and collecting her books; grateful her ink bottle hadn't smashed all over her notes. As she straightened up, she became aware of a sound, like a cough. She waited, unmoving and listened. It came again, and she distinguished the sound as a muffled sob.

She looked around the corridor. There were no portraits in this corridor, and Violet turned around fully. There was no one at either end. She continued walking, then realised that she was level with Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. The sound echoed off the tiled floor and walls, and Violet walked tentatively forward in the bathroom. She walked forward further, reminded of the time in first year that she and Scorpius had duelled in this very bathroom. They seemed to have repaired the wall and faucets since then. A figure came in view, hunched over a sink, white shirt sleeves rolled up, the tap running.

She suddenly recognised the figure; the white blond hair and the tall, slim figure gave it away. It was Scorpius Malfoy, standing over the sink, his shoulders shaking, head bowed. Violet continued staring at him, at his pale hands clutching the edge of the sink and made a split-second decision.

She placed her books down on the floor, and crept towards Scorpius. She was near enough to see the tears streaming down his face.

"Scorpius." she whispered. He didn't hear her. She was right next to him now and she reached out and gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Scorpius." she repeated. He jumped and jerked away from her, his blue eyes wide.

He looked relieved when he realised that it was just Violet, but then his face crumpled a moment later and he ran a hand through his hair, then sunk down onto the cold floor, pulling his knees up to his chest. Violet sat down beside him, their backs against the wall underneath the sink.

He had his head in his hands and his breathing was ragged. Violet tried to ignore the fact that their shoulders were pressed up against one another. She put a hand on his shoulder again and he leant into her slightly. And Violet just sat there, waiting until his sobs had subsided and he rested his head back against the wall. Violet removed her hand and looked down at the ground.

There was an awkward silence until he said: "Do you remember the Sorting Hat's song?" Violet nodded. "_This task could be unknown, To all but the brave at heart; A task for one placed wrongly, For the one set apart."_ he paused.

"It's me. I'm the one the Hat was talking about. _I _was the one placed wrongly. "Brave at heart." Gryffindor. Set apart." he trailed off. "I was given a task." He looked at Violet. She stared back, questioningly. "I'm not supposed to say anything. Even if I tell you, you'll hate me. " he looked at the floor. "Mind you," he laughed bitterly. "You already hate me already." Violet was about to protest, when he grew serious again.

"I… I have to resurrect Salazar Slytherin." he said. Violet's mouth fell open. There were many things she could have said, but she blurted out: "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently. He said it is."

"Who said?" Violet asked.

"Doesn't matter." Scorpius muttered, looking as though he'd said too much. Violet turned to him, her eyes flashing a steely grey.

"Who's making you do this, Scorpius?" Violet insisted.

"I can't tell you." he said, turning his gaze back to the floor. "But…but if I don't do it by the end of this year then… then he'll kill my entire family. There are other Slytherins helping me do it. We meet in the Chamber of Secrets. Ever since the Battle of Hogwarts it doesn't need a Parselmouth to open it. Because of it, they named the group the Serpent's Coil." He looked at Violet momentarily and then continued.

"They're all hell bent on completing this—apparently it will bring back pride to their families after they fled or were defeated in the Wizarding War. For me, my grandfather thinks that I have to 'make up' for being in Gryffindor…" he fiddled with his shoelaces.

"Do you want to do this?" Violet asked suddenly, looking penetratingly at him.

"No." he said immediately, looking up at her then tilting his head back again. "But it's not like I have much of a choice."

"We always have choices." Violet said. "You, of all people, should know that." Scorpius looked at her weirdly, then realised. She _knew. _She knew that he had chosen Gryffindor over Slytherin.

"So if you want to work against the Serpent's Coil, come talk to me." With that she got up, grabbed her books and strode out of the bathroom.


End file.
